1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method of providing a service, and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method of providing a personalized service, in which a user generates and uses the personalized service in a web based environment.
This work was supported by the IT R&D program of MIC/IITA.[2005-S056-02, Development of Open API and Service Platform Technologies]
2. Description of the Related Art
There is no antecedent related to a technique of providing a personalized service in an open environment based on Parlay architecture. However, there exist some antecedents related to the technique of providing the personalized service in the Internet or existing neural network.
There is Korean Patent No. 0543311 as an antecedent. In the antecedent, an audio file corresponding to greetings and a destination name among the destination menu information is generated and stored, after destination menu information in a text type is received from a subscriber on a web. When a service for the subscriber is requested to be provided, the previously stored greetings are transmitted, and destination announcements including destination names are transmitted so that a user can call the subscriber.
There is Korean Patent No. 0420486 as another antecedent. In the antecedent, a user estimates member information that is input when the user is registered as a member, a user class according to rules defined by an administrator, and a pattern of information used by the user so as to provide the most suitable information for the user.
There is Korean Patent No. 2005-0071720 as another antecedent. In the antecedent, a customized homepage is produced on the basis of a preference by receiving the preference in a layout and a style of a homepage from the user.
There is Korean patent application publication No. 2004-0001346 as another antecedent. In the antecedent, an application customized for a user is provided during runtime of a service by allowing the user to select desired components among components that constitute an application when the user subscribes to the service. That is, a customized service is provided by assembling components during runtime of the service by using a service definition in which correlation between components selected by the user and an application template is defined. In the present antecedent, although it is intended to customize not data used by the application but application logic, personalization is provided by using a method in which service construction information is stored in a database and used during runtime of the service.
There is U.S. Pat. No. 7,100,107B2 as another antecedent. The present antecedent patent relates to a method in which user information and preferences are gathered by using hypermedia and applied to service components that constitute a service. Like the aforementioned patent (Korean patent application publication No. 2004-0001346), in the present patent, personalization is provided by maintaining a service application provided by a service provider and applying input data of the user to the service.
In the conventional techniques, personal information (for example, personal profile information, personal tastes, terminal capability, and the like) is gathered from a user, stored by using on-line or off-line means, and suitably used when the service is executed in order to provide a personalized service depending on the user. That is, the service provider prepares a service logic program, and the user inputs personal information through a service provisioning process. The data is used when the service logic is executed, and the personalized service is provided.
The existing techniques are suitable for a structure of a current communication network. That is, in the structure, a service provider who owns a communication network provides a service, and a general user uses the service. In order to provide a personalized service depending on the user in the existing communication environment, the service provider gathers personal information from users through a means such as a web and uses the gathered information during runtime of the service logic program.
However, in the existing techniques, limited personalization can be obtained. The service provider gathers information needed for the service in order to provide the service and uses the gathered information according to predetermined service logic. Finally, the users provides personalized information according to predetermined a scenario within a range defined by the service provider and receives a personalized service. In addition, although it is possible for the personalized service to use personal data (a phone book, a schedule, a multimedia file, and the like) stored in a personal device, the existing techniques do not provide a method of using the personal data.
Current service users gradually changes from passive users to active users and requires the existing service to be slightly modified or requires completely new service to be provided. The existing method of providing personalization in the current communication environment cannot satisfy various desires of the users.
In addition, in the existing communication network environment, since the service logic is constructed with a complex communication network protocol, it is possible for only experts in programming and communication networks to prepare the service logic. Since it takes long time and hard efforts to create a new service and start the service, it is difficult to successively create new services suitable for various desires of users.